


Doughnuts, Hedgehogs, and a Whole Bunch of Snow

by HyperSpikes



Series: 4 times Sonic saved Green Hills (+1 time Green Hills saved Sonic) [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: 10 percent Hurt/Comfort, 4 times +1 time, 90 percent Wholesome, Christmas fic, Christmas traditions, Gen, Green Hills headcanons, pre-release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21908527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperSpikes/pseuds/HyperSpikes
Summary: A small, Christmas-themed one-shot to celebrate the holidays and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) movie! In true Christmas spirit, I'm keeping the plot of this story a surprise! Happy holidays!
Series: 4 times Sonic saved Green Hills (+1 time Green Hills saved Sonic) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607812
Comments: 20
Kudos: 255





	Doughnuts, Hedgehogs, and a Whole Bunch of Snow

**Author's Note:**

> This story also serves as the first chapter in "4 Times Sonic saved Green Hills (+1 time Green Hills saved Sonic)".

Tom took a sip out of his coffee mug as he settled into his chair at the Green Hills Sheriff’s Office. The warmth of the drink and the soft doughnut in his hand was a welcomed change from the frigid weather outside. This Christmas was going to be a cold one – colder than usual, actually. There was even a freeze warning; snow wouldn’t be the only thing he’d have to worry about.

He had just cracked his fingers and was preparing to draft this morning’s police reports when a strong gust of wind blew open the door and a tingle of electricity buzzed through the air. Tom barely managed to keep his mug of coffee from spilling all over his desk, but the papers he was planning to write on weren’t so lucky. They were all over the floor now, along with his pens.

“No way!” Sonic said ecstatically as he stared at the small Christmas tree set up near the entrance. It was about as tall as Sonic himself and decorated in white tinsel, red ornaments, and multicolored Christmas lights. “There’s one in here too?!”

“Sonic, we talked about this,” Tom said exasperatedly as he looked down at Sonic, who’d spun around from the tree to face Tom. “You can’t run into the shops down here! The doors aren’t made to deal with… _you._ ”

A quick glance at the papers and pens scattered on the floor was all Sonic needed to realize what had happened. “Sorry!” He said as he did a once-over through the tiny office before zipping back to Tom’s desk and excitedly hopping up onto the corner, once again nearly spilling over Tom’s coffee. Tom sighed as he grouchily placed a hand over the top of the mug to keep it from falling off the desk.

“Sooo what’s with the fancy trees I keep seeing everywhere?” Sonic asked as he placed Tom’s belongings back onto his desk. “Rosa’s got one in her shop, Sam has one in the pet store, that restaurant with the creepy moose heads has one too – ”

“Christmas,” Tom said nonchalantly, cutting Sonic off. At Sonic’s confused and expectant expression, Tom shook his head, suddenly remembering that Sonic was still learning about Earth’s holidays. “It’s… a day of spending time with the people you love and showing that you appreciate them,” he continued.

“Psh,” Sonic said has he rolled his eyes playfully. “That should be _every day._ You humans are weird. What are the _trees_ for?” Sonic pressed, his excitement quickly building up again. “Why do you people chop them down and put them into shops? And why is this one so tiny?” Sonic dashed over to the Christmas tree and rubbed the leaves, quirking an eyebrow in what looked almost like disgust. “And… made of _not-tree_?”

Tom rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and groaned. It was too early for this. “They’re just for decoration, it’s a tradition here in town, I can’t fit a bigger one in here, and it’s _plastic_ ,” Tom muttered. “Don’t you have someplace else to be? And why are you so obsessed with the trees, anyway?”

“Nope!” Sonic grinned proudly as it said it. “And the trees? It’s because –”

The door to the police station swung open, followed by a blast of cold winter air. Billy, Tom’s co-worker and the deputy of Green Hills, walked in wearing a large coat. A light dusting of snow sat on his shoulders and he shook it off as he passed by Tom’s workspace.

“Heya Tom! Happy Christmas Eve! Oh, and hey Sonic!” he said as he passed through, ruffling Sonic’s quills a little and grabbing a doughnut from the box on Tom’s desk. “Tom, you patrolling on-foot or by car for the festival tonight?”

“I don’t know yet,” Tom answered back. “It’d be easier on-foot, but there’s supposed to be a pretty heavy frost, so I might need the car.”

“A festival?” Sonic’s eyes lit up at the word and Tom immediately felt a surge of dread. Before he could turn to Billy to hopefully keep him from saying anything else, the hedgehog had already zoomed from his spot near the tree, through the doorway to Billy’s office, and onto Billy’s desk. The deputy had just hung up his heavy coat when the little ball of super energy began asking him a litany of non-stop questions about the festival. Being the more jovial of the two officers, Billy happily told Sonic all about the sled races down snowy slopes, Christmas carols in the marketplace, free hot cocoa, the Christmas-themed doughnuts for the kids down by at bakery, and the contests to see who could build the best snowman.

“And when it gets closer to midnight,” Billy continued, “everyone helps to decorate a long row of Christmas trees in as many lights as possible. When midnight hits, they switch on the lights and we celebrate until sunrise! We call it the Forest of Stars. It’s Green Hills’ tradition.”

“That sounds _awesome_!” Sonic was practically exploding with energy. “When’s the festival?!”

“Tonight!”

“Yeah-ha-ha!” Sonic couldn’t stop the little sparks of electricity that danced on his fur as he literally jumped for joy. “We gotta see this festival! Tom!”

Tom only rubbed the bridge of his nose and held back a small groan.

“C’mon! You’re gonna be there on patrol or whatever! Let me come with you!”

Tom sighed and looked at Sonic, whose bright green eyes were wide with wonder and joy, and he was only reminded of how much he _really_ wished he didn’t have to be the one to shut him down.

“Sonic, I… You can’t.”

Sonic’s smile dropped, as did his ears. The surprise and hurt in Sonic’s expression broke Tom’s heart just a little bit. “I… can’t?” Tom watched as Sonic forced himself to bury his sadness and replace it with defiance. “What do you mean I can’t? I _so_ can!”

“No, you can’t. _Our_ town knows you, and you’re safe here. But the festival is open to _everyone,_ including people from out of town. Robotnik is gone, but there are other people like him – people who… if they saw you… well –“

“I _know_ that there are other sickos out there, Tom,” Sonic drawled, the hurt in his face still evident, despite Sonic’s efforts to cover it up. “But I spent ten years of my _life_ on Earth, and all of them were spent alone. I’ve _never_ been to a festival before!”

“Uh, if I can say something?” Billy interjected. “Maybe you can hide and watch from the trees or –”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Sonic said in irritation. “All I’ve ever done is watch the festival. I didn’t even know what it was when I saw it every year. Now I’ve got people who know me, and actual _friends,_ and… I’m still gonna be alone.”

“I’m just trying to protect you,” Tom offered, but Sonic was already gone.

. . .

Tom knew that if Sonic wanted to go somewhere or do something, there was no one – literally _no one –_ that could stop him. With his speed, Sonic could very well the freest creature on the planet. Tom knew that, and he knew Sonic did as well. It was one of the reasons that Tom took some time out of his lunch break to hunt Sonic down in the place he knew he’d be.

The smell of the pine trees and the feel of the damp snow beneath his boots took Tom back to when he was younger. He used to explore these woods when he was a kid and imagine that he’d find treasure or a secret tunnel leading to an underground cavern. Now he was in his mid-30’s and looking for an alien from another dimension. When he came across the tree that marked the entrance to Sonic’s old underground home, he sighed, breathed in the icy air, and leaned down.

“Sonic?” He called down into the entrance. There wasn’t an answer from inside, but he heard a rustling from above him and looked up to see a small blue figure sitting high up in the trees.

“Sonic? What are you – Would you come down from there?” Tom called up to him, and the hedgehog acknowledged him with a small glance before turning back to staring out at the distance. His ears, however, were still pointed slightly in Tom’s direction. Taking this as a sign that Sonic was indeed interested in what he had to say, Tom held his arms out to the side.

“You and I both know that I can’t stop you from going to the festival,” Tom said with a grin on his face. “So if you wanna go, then I’ll go with you.”

This caught Sonic’s attention, as he finally looked down at Tom. “But,” Tom continued, sliding the backpack he brought off his shoulder and waving it a little. “There’s something you need to do first.”

. . .

Of course Tom wasn’t going to tell Sonic that the clothes were for a child, especially since they fit him so well. Despite Maddie constantly saying so, he never considered his hedgehog friend ‘cute’. But after seeing him dressed up in a long jacket and a Santa hat, even Tom had to admit that Sonic looked pretty damn adorable.

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid, you won’t be noticed,” Tom said as Sonic messed with the puffy white ball at the end of his hat. Tom had his doubts about the outfit. It certainly wasn’t foolproof, but Sonic seemed to be fine wearing sunglasses, a hat, and one of Tom’s shirts when they’d visited the bar in Nevada back when Robotnik was still chasing them.

“You ready?” Tom asked Sonic, but he found that he didn’t have to, as Sonic was already bouncing off the walls and itching to go. Tom wasn’t dressed for the occasion, since he was on-duty for Christmas Eve and was at the festival mainly to observe and make sure the out-of-state visitors weren’t causing trouble. Tom didn’t mind, though; he found the Santa hat and outfit to be a bit silly on a police officer in uniform. That all changed when Maddie walked out from the living room and placed a Santa hat on his head. She was dressed in a festive sweater and wore reindeer antlers on her head. He sighed playfully but didn’t take the hat off.

“There,” Maddie said. “ _Now_ you’re ready.”

. . .

Despite the cold, Green Hills’ residents were determined to have their Christmas festival. The marketplace was alive with cheer and pep. For Sonic, it was strange to see so much activity in an otherwise quiet and sleepy little town. Everything from the fences that lined the buildings to the streetlamps that illuminated the festival had been done up in Christmas-themed colors and strung with ornaments and lights. The tinkle of children’s laughter danced in the air as colorful sleds bumped and tumbled down sparkling snowy slopes and deep into the surrounding forest. Sonic snickered as he watched one of the kids building a snowman throw a snowball at another child, who laughed and chased after her through the snow. Jack, the town’s barber, was sitting at the steps of his shop and playing his guitar. His rough and deep voice complimented the light and sweet chords of his guitar as he sung Christmas songs into the nighttime air.

Time passed in a sweet and slow waltz, and before long, Sonic had enjoyed Rosa’s cranberry-filled Christmas-themed doughnuts, felt the comforting warmth of a real cup of hot cocoa, sang Christmas carols with the locals, decorated a Christmas tree for the Forest of Stars, and even competed in a snowman building contest. For once, he didn’t have to worry about hiding or being chased by a nutty scientist, and he knew that if something bad _did_ happen, he had someone who would look out for him and make sure he was okay. For the first time, Sonic finally – _truly –_ felt safe, and there was really nothing more he could ask for. As midnight drew closer, Tom finished his rounds and took a seat next to Sonic, who was sitting by Jack’s shop, listening to him play, and waiting for the Forest of Stars to light up. They sat together in a comfortable silence, watching some of the townsfolk decorate the last of the trees. Tom nudged Sonic in the side just as Maddie sat down next to them.

“You never did tell me why you were so interested in the trees,” Tom said. “You had all _this_ to look forward to, but you wanted to see the Forest of Stars. Why?”

“Well,” Sonic began, all of the sudden looking a little shy. “At night, around this time in the winter, I used to sit up in the trees far up in the mountains to look at all the lights. I wanted to know what they were, but I never got too close. There were too many people.” Tom pursed his lips and frowned. He knew Sonic had lived alone on Earth for ten years, but the thought of Sonic watching a Christmas festival from high up in the trees just sounded… lonely. Lonely, and not to mention cold. Montana’s winter temperatures could easily reach below freezing. Tom had been to the festival and had seen the Forest of Stars more times than he could count, as he’d lived in Montana for a while before moving out to San Francisco for better employment opportunities. But for Sonic, it was his first chance to not just _see_ a festival, but actually be a _part_ of it – to be with the people, be a part of the energy, and feel like he was contributing to something special.

“You spent your winters all alone?” Maddie asked softly. Sonic nodded, and Maddie ruffled the fur on his head while avoiding his quills. “Well, you’ve got the best sheriff in town and a veterinarian on your side now. You won’t be alone again.”

“Honey, I’m the _only_ sheriff in town. If you’re going to flatter me, do it right,” Tom drawled sarcastically, and Maddie giggled.

Tom, Maddie, and Sonic were startled from their conversation when the lampposts around them started flickering in and out. A few of the townsfolks who were keeping warm in the shops gasped a little as the store lights started buzzing. As soon as the strange flickering began, it stopped moments later, and everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Then, one by one, the shops and all the lampposts outside began shutting off, leaving Green Hills in the dark. Some of the townsfolk went back into their homes to check their lights, only to find that even the house lights wouldn’t turn on. Green Hills had suffered a major blackout, and midnight was just around the corner.

Sandy, the town’s mechanic and local electrician, confirmed Tom’s suspicions: the blackout had been caused by the cold.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” he said sadly as he rubbed his neck a little, obviously upset that he had to break the bad news to the hopeful children who had gathered around him in anticipation. “But I don’t think we’ll have a Forest of Stars this Christmas. Not until the power company upstate can send some guys down to replace the broken parts in the power system.”

“Can’t _you_ go, Sandy?” One of the children asked. Sandy shook his head and explained that he’d had to travel upstate, which meant it would take hours to get there and hours to get back. The lights would come back on eventually, but definitely not tonight – much less before midnight.

Maddie felt her heart sink at the news. Midnight was only moments away, and now the one thing Sonic wanted to see was ruined. It wasn’t just Sonic who was excited to see the Forest of Stars either; it was a Green Hills tradition, and everyone in town took pride in it. She looked down to meet Sonic’s eyes and offer him some kind of consolation, but the hedgehog had disappeared. She felt her breath catch in her throat and she slowly turned to Tom.

“Tom. Where’s Sonic?”

As the realization that Sonic was missing dawned on him, Tom turned this way and that, panic in his eyes as he searched for the hedgehog. A faint buzzing from somewhere above him caught his attention, and he looked up. His eyes settled on the lamppost they were sitting next to. He watched in disbelief as it sparked and sputtered. Little currents of blue electricity were coming off of it.

“I know where he went,” Tom muttered in awe as he watched the other lampposts begin to flicker on. Soon, the lights in the shops switched on, all the houses that surrounded the town had heat and light again, and Green Hills was illuminated once more. Tom and Maddie found themselves bathed in warm light, knowing that only one missing hedgehog could be responsible for their good fortune. Sandy was at a loss for words, but his smile was just as bright as those of the children and families who were practically dancing in the streets.

“Hey guys!” Sonic called out from behind Tom and Maddie as a gust of cold wind hit them, throwing snow onto their backs.

“What the – !? Sonic!” Tom said in shock as Maddie tore off Tom’s Santa hat and stuffed it onto Sonic’s head, as the one he had on before had mysteriously gone missing. Sonic giggled as she smoothed down his quills and tucked them into the hat.

“You went upstate, didn’t you?” Tom asked Sonic, grinning with what looked like an odd mix of annoyance and pride. Sonic only smirked back him, his green eyes shining with delight and adrenaline. Tom left it at that, and turned his attention to his watch. “Well, wherever you went, you came back just in time.”

And like clockwork, the Forest of Stars lit up. A full row of beautifully-decorated Christmas trees – strung up in lights of all different shapes and sizes – brightened the night sky and made the freshly-fallen snow twinkle. Sonic couldn’t help but let out a breath of awe and wonder. He’d waited _years_ to witness the Forest of Stars for himself and was pleased to find it was just as amazing as he’d imagined. But perhaps, he mused, it wasn’t just the Forest of Stars he had been looking forward to when he had stared at the lights from atop a wintery tree all those years ago. Perhaps it was knowing that when he _did_ get to see the Forest of Stars for himself, it meant he’d be welcomed on this strange planet. It meant he wouldn’t have to hide away anymore, and most importantly, maybe it meant he’d finally have a warm place to call home and people to call his friends.

Standing in front of the Forest of Stars and feeling Tom and Maddie by his side, Sonic knew he’d finally found all of those things, and he couldn’t be happier.


End file.
